American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 51 The Catwoman of the Ages Helps with the Ring

To be honest, it's quite normal for the general public to think that "The Secret Room" lost its daily box office crown.

Since most movies have the highest opening weekend box office for the entire release period, except for Titanic, isn't it only natural that Die Another Day's opening day box office was higher than The Locked Room's?

Even if HP is powerful, it can't shut someone up and prevent them from eating, right?
However, for Warner Bros., the unexpected rise of "Choose the Day" was like the sky falling.

Because they cannot afford to lose right now!

Because they had already made all the predictions beforehand!

When all the calculations indicated that "007" couldn't beat "The Locked Chamber," did "Choose the Day" surpass "The Locked Chamber"?
OMG——

Not to mention that this fact will affect Warner Bros.' control over the subsequent promotion and distribution of "The Chamber of Secrets"!

The mere fact that it was a 'calculation error' is enough to fire a bunch of people!
If you're asked to predict a competitor's box office, I can understand if you get it wrong by 20% or 30%, or even 60% or 70% for a new movie. The film industry is inherently a gamble, and when a chosen one like Spider-Man decides to appear, no one can stop it.

but--

Can you make 100% mistakes on a classic series that hasn't changed its cast?

You predicted it would be second place, but it exploded onto the scene and became number one, with its box office exceeding that of the second-place contender by almost 50%?

Is that fucking ass pressing against your neck?
Is your prediction just about farting with your big ass?
"M-Fxxk!!"

"Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?!"

After discovering that the results of "Choose the Day" were ridiculously high, far exceeding the expected results, Nathan Bailey abandoned his lovely Saturday and rushed back to the company to question his subordinates about the specific reasons.

Sigh, there's nothing we can do about it; after all, he's the one monitoring the data for "The Locked Room."
If something really goes wrong, he'll be the first one to be held accountable!
"Uh... Boss..."

"The success of '007' may be related to Halle Berry..."

Because the previous predictions were indeed far-fetched.

So the Warner operations team was already frantically conducting a self-examination before Nathan Bailey even arrived.

Then they discovered that the huge opening day success of "Choose Another Day" had little to do with Pierce Brosnan. The veteran James Bond had already reached the lower limit of the film's box office performance, and he could no longer stimulate the series' box office. What breathed new life into "Choose Another Day" was the new Bond girl, Halle Berry.

This woman was a Miss America before entering the entertainment industry; she has a great image and excellent temperament.

Although she didn't achieve much in the early part of her career, her career has been booming in recent years.

She not only played Storm in "X-Men," a film with a return on investment of 3.95, making it a profitable project just by looking at the box office, but also became the first Black actress to win an Oscar at the beginning of this year.

Even though everyone knows that her victory was related to the large plane that was received in New York last year.

Currently, mainstream American public opinion is to unite all forces that can be united to launch a fierce attack on what they define as the axis of evil, and to spread American-style freedom and democracy throughout the world. That's why Halle Berry was able to win the Best Actress award for the first time in history.

But whether she's a worthy or not is completely irrelevant, isn't it?

Awards selected by people can be manipulated, but box office results, which require public support, are difficult to fake.

"Monsters' Ball," which won Halle Berry an Academy Award for Best Actress, is a prime example of a film that achieved great success with a small budget.

The $400 million investment yielded $4500 million in box office revenue, resulting in a return on investment of 11.25%.

This is an impressive achievement for a drama film. Not only that, the VHS tapes of "The Death Row Inmate" also sold extremely well. Released in June, Lionsgate has already recouped 100 million dollars from the VHS tapes.

When Halle Berry's name represents Dao Le.

Her appearance in "007" will definitely boost the film's box office.

"Oh! Sxxt!!"

Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?!

Nathan Bailey has gone mad!

"Clang-"

He slammed his fist on the table and said angrily, "What you're talking about are all things that can change the box office of a movie!"

"So why didn't you mark it on the report when you were giving your presentation?!"

Nathan Bailey firmly believes that he did not see Halle Berry in the previous reports.

and so……

Was the report falsified?
Damn——

This report is about the operation of Harry Potter!
Harry Potter is Warner Bros.' lifeblood!

How the hell do these people dare to do that?!
The question, which sounded like a bull's roar, made the operations department staff shrink back in shock.

The three who came to report looked around, exchanged glances, and then the one standing in the middle sighed—

"Boss, because until today we didn't know exactly how much Halle Berry was worth."

“When her influence in business is so ambiguous, it’s not appropriate for us to include her in the report…”

If we only look at "X-Men" and "Death Row," Halle Berry's commercial achievements are very impressive.

However, if you look at her acting career as a whole—or rather, just her professional resume after she became famous—you'll find that Halle Berry's influence is hard to define. The Mutant series was indeed quite successful, but what about after that? Her movie Swordfish was a complete flop. With an investment of 1.02 million, it only grossed 1.47 million at the box office, which was a complete failure.

What Warner Bros. finds most unforgettable is that they invested in Swordfish themselves.

The person who signed the project has already left.

Following Swordfish, Death Row Inmate sold very well?
Given that "Dead Man" had the backing of an Oscar, how much did Halle Berry actually contribute to the box office?

Nobody can figure that out.

However, one thing everyone knows is that after she won the Best Actress award, the ratings of her TV dramas, the ratings of the talk shows she participated in, and even the sales of the products she endorsed all declined instead of increasing.

Moreover, Revlon's boss, Ronald Perelman, even publicly stated that they would part ways with Black Pearl next year, after Halle Berry's contract with Revlon expires.

Because Halle Berry can't carry the sales figures, and this person is also the owner of Marvel.

So, did Marvel's boss think that Storm, their own heroine, couldn't carry the sales volume of the products she endorsed?

Doesn't this completely expose the sales situation of Marvel merchandise?

In that case, from a professional's perspective, Halle Berry is truly a piece of chocolate.

It's fine for humans to eat, but it will kill dogs.

And what projects involve people?
What project is a dog?
How could they possibly understand that!
"Is this why you removed Halle Berry from the report?"

Nathan Bailey quickly reviewed the documents submitted by his subordinates.

"Yes."

The refined-looking man with glasses who was in the lead nodded.

"I think your idea is fine; it's normal industry logic."

Nathan Bailey paused for a moment, then nodded, a fact that relieved the three people present.

however--

Before they could fully relax, Nathan Bailey shook his head again, "But, The Chamber of Secrets is not a normal movie."

"The Chamber of Secrets is the only pillar of our Warner Bros. film division right now."

"In this case, any factors that might affect the box office of 'The Secret Room' should be noted in the report."

So! Answer me!

Why didn't you label it?

Nathan Bailey slowly raised his head.

A terrifying light gleamed in his bloodshot eyes.

In his opinion--

Even though everyone thought Halle Berry was hard to judge in all the previous calculations, they still had to include Halle Berry in the report because, after all, Halle Berry is a big star with an Oscar!

Of course, what he meant was not to express respect for people.

In Hollywood, people without commercial value are not respected.

People who are consistently unpredictable and inconsistent will not earn respect.

What Nathan Bailey really wanted to express was—

Even if Halle Berry's commercial value is vague, including her in the report won't waste a few seconds of everyone's time! And those few seconds can absolve them all of responsibility once the problem erupts!

But when Halle Berry isn't in the report...

No one can escape responsibility for a poorly conducted investigation.

Since Nathan Bailey was telling the truth—and such detailed narratives are indeed a self-preservation tactic in the workplace—the three people who came to report lowered their heads as soon as the question arose. After a two-second pause, the guy on the left sighed.

"Boss, you weren't in the company during the first half of this year, so there are some things you don't know."

“We really can’t write the name Halle Berry; Mr. Mayer hates it now.”

"Because DC chose her, and then she disgusted Mr. Mayer."

"???"

Nathan Bailey was stunned.

'Weren't we talking about Halle Berry? How did the conversation suddenly veer to DC?'

He doesn't understand!

But he has a mouth—

"and many more!"

He slammed his hand on the table, his brow furrowed, and said, "You're saying she disgusted Mr. Meyer?"

"Yes."

"How disgusting is she?"

“Uh…” The person giving the report looked hesitant.

The three exchanged glances and, after reaching a consensus, said, "Boss, you know about DC's 'Catwoman,' right? DC wants to reboot that project from back then and wants Halle Berry to play Catwoman. Mr. Mayer agreed, but..."

Halle Berry is asking for a high price.

"How tall?" Nathan Bailey squinted.

He knew about DC's situation, and it was precisely because he knew that he had a bad feeling at this moment—

"2000 million," the subordinate replied.

"Seize the young man???"

Nathan Bailey's eyes widened instantly.

As mentioned earlier, the biggest vision of Warner Bros.' previous godfather, The Undertaker Ross, was to turn Warner Bros. into an entertainment empire like Disney. To this end, he even built a film studio in Australia and acquired the popular Six Flags theme park in North America.

If he hadn't passed away suddenly, Warner Bros.' theme park project might have been completed by now.

The establishment of the cinema and the acquisition of Six Flags were merely arrangements he made regarding the venue.

Regarding intellectual property... in Steve Ross's plan, DC (Digital DC) is the best entry point, therefore...

In 1989, Warner Bros. released the film "The Batman".

That's right.

Tim Burton's Batman was made specifically for Warner Bros. theme parks.

The corresponding theme park attraction is Warner Bros.' 'Batman Adventure' in Australia.

This project was officially launched on December 23, 1992.

Warner Bros. only made this movie because they were jealous of the theme park!
Because Tim Burton's Batman movie was successful and the theme park spin-offs were popular, Warner Bros. wanted to capitalize on this success and continue developing other DC IPs. Since Catwoman appeared in Batman Returns and Michelle Pfeiffer's portrayal was very popular, developing Catwoman became Warner Bros.' top priority at the time.

However, no one expected—

Before Catwoman even started filming, Warner Bros. godfather Steve Ross passed away.

He passed away on December 20, 1992.

Well, he himself didn't even see the explosive popularity of Batmanland.

Then, what no one expected was—

No sooner had Steve Ross left than a power struggle erupted at Time Warner.

And then—

The theme park operating rights of Warner Bros.' various intellectual property brands...

That's all.

When this became the case, Warner Bros. faced a problem: if they made good DC movies, the real money wouldn't go to them, but to Six Flags, which owned the theme park rights! But if Warner Bros. stopped making DC movies, would they just throw away the foundation laid by Steve Ross? The Batman duo did very well at the box office!

A stubborn mind becomes a blockage in both ends!

Warner was completely stunned.

However, Warner's period of relative calm didn't last long, because the internal power struggles were too fierce, and there was a lot of capital coveting their resources from outside. When power within the company could not be centralized and professional managers formed their own factions, business could not be carried out.

As a result, the Batman IP ended up being a flop.

Tim Burton really wanted to finish the trilogy, but unfortunately, he never got the chance.

Normally, after the abrupt end of Batman, Warner Bros. shouldn't have made any more comic book adaptations, firstly because of incomplete copyrights, and secondly because comic book adaptations generally don't perform well at the box office. However, everything changed this year.

Because the man who failed got back up!
After Spider-Man became a huge hit, DC started to get creative.

They want to make a movie.

They also want to achieve results.

Therefore, they directly advised Warner Bros. that Sony also held incomplete Spider-Man rights, but Sony was able to make a fortune through movies and movie derivatives. So why couldn't they make money too?

Barry Mayer thought it made sense.

Especially when they need results, letting DC take the lead was Barry Mayer's final decision.

Then, the development of these IPs—Batman, Catwoman, Superman—all came up on the discussion table.

The development of Batman is progressing well. Warner Bros. wants Christopher Nolan, the director of Memento, to direct, and the two sides are already in talks. The development of Superman is still under consideration because there are no famous directors they want to work with, and famous directors are unwilling to take the role. Catwoman is progressing the fastest because the script was written ten years ago, and Halle Berry is a good fit.

then……

Warner then went to talk to Halle Berry.

And then……

Halle Berry is asking for 20 million.

After this quote appeared, Nathan Bailey finally understood why Halle Berry wouldn't appear in the forecast file.

This guy isn't worth 20 million. The standard for 20 million is someone who can single-handedly carry a 300 million box office, which this guy definitely can't do. So, when she was treating Barry Mayer like a fool, you were reporting on "Choose Another Day" that Halle Berry was very likely to boost the box office of "007"? Do you believe you'd get fired after writing that sentence?
Who the hell would dare write such a prediction?!

So……

Nathan Bailey's eyelids twitched.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that staying in England seemed like a relatively easy job.

Although he couldn't look Columbus in the eye and didn't dare to speak harshly to Isabella, both of them had good tempers!
He treats Livingdon like a vacation!
But now?

When he went to explain to Barry Mayer why "Choose the Day" could surpass "The Chamber of Secrets," he couldn't very well say, "Honey, Halle Berry, whom you previously labeled as an idiot, suddenly slapped you in the face," could he?

Nathan Bailey believes!

As long as he dares to say that!
Barry Mayer would dare to smash his head in!
'OMG——'

'What kind of awful things do I encounter every day?'

Nathan Bailey held his head in his hands and put on a mask of pain.

This situation caused the three subordinates standing opposite to exchange glances. After a long while, seeing that Nathan Bailey was unwilling to speak, the leader finally said, "Boss, I think you don't need to worry too much about the current situation."

"Because Mr. Mayer also reads reports, once Halle Berry appears on the 'The Day' list, he will definitely understand why, and once he understands, he won't ask us for an explanation."

"Furthermore, we believe that Halle Berry's contribution to the box office of '007' will not be significant."

"At most, it will only affect the box office for one or two days."

"Because her commercial value is really not high, and MGM made her take her clothes off in '007'."

"Before we came here, we had already done our research. MGM, in promoting 'Choose a Day,' stated that Halle Berry paid homage to Ursula Anders in the film. Ursula Anders was the first Bond girl; in 'Dr. No,' she appeared in a revealing summer outfit, going for... uh... a sensual route..."

"When MGM uses this tactic to boost box office sales, the '007' series can truly be declared over..."

Just as Warner staff judged.

Even though "Choose Another Day" dethroned "The Chamber" to become the top-grossing film in North America on a single day, Barry Mayer didn't bother Nathan Bailey because... men have pride!

This result relieved Nathan Bailey.

Then, when MGM played it close to the edge during the film's promotion, the film's hype factor almost disappeared.

When even the distributors can't think of anything good about a movie's plot or visuals, then the movie can only be described as utterly terrible.

If "Choose the Day" were an erotic film, okay, the suggestive marketing would definitely cause the box office to skyrocket.

But it's not; it's a PG13.

Where can you wipe a PG13 movie?

So……

It is true that "Choose the Day" grossed 1661 million yuan on its opening day, but only 1904 million yuan on the second day.

The increase was only 14.6%.

This is very unhealthy data.

Because "The Secret Chamber" saw a 69.9% increase the following day after its eight-day run, grossing 1870 million.

Although it is still overshadowed by "Choose the Day", the increase in "Choose the Day" fully proves one thing.

That means everyone knows MGM is an idiot.

That being the case...

With Sunday approaching, on the 24th, "The Chamber" reclaimed the top spot at the North American daily box office, grossing $1251 million.

The film grossed $1.48 million at the North American box office.

"Choose the Day" was a complete flop, with box office revenue halved and only 1140 million yuan earned in a single day.

Not only that, Rotten Tomatoes has also given it a score.

"Choose the Day" garnered a 46% freshness rating and a 31% popcorn rating.

It's a terrible movie.

Even after ten days, "The Secret Room" still retains 85% freshness and 83% popcorn appeal.

The difference in strength is obvious to the naked eye.

This result put Nathan Bailey at ease after two days of worry.

Because his future is also closely linked to "The Locked Room".

He doesn't want "The Locked Room" to fail right now.

However, just when everyone thought that the appearance of "007" was just a false alarm.

At noon on the 25th, CNN's midday news suddenly released a report—

"The new James Bond film, 'Die Another Day,' officially opened in North America last Friday, raking in a whopping $4707 million at the box office in its opening weekend, surpassing 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' $4222 million to become the number one film at the North American box office for the 47th weekend of 2002."

"This fact is amazing! Because the previous James Bond films did not perform well, this time the top spot means that the old IP may have won its new spring? The fall of Harry Potter is surprising! Because their predecessors were the chart-topping ones, last year's Sorcerer's Stone held the North American box office number one for three consecutive weeks."

"so……"

"Harry Potter's magic has stopped working?"

Was the success of *The Philosopher's Stone* just an accident?

"Perhaps HP doesn't have the same potential as SW?"

"However, The Chamber of Secrets performed just as well as Philosopher's Stone in regions outside of North America."

"..."

Warner Bros. is in an uproar!!!

"A generous gift of crabs—"

"Who the hell posted this news?!"

After hearing CNN's diss report on HP, Barry Mayer smashed the chair in his office!
What?
Someone asked him why he didn't just flip the table?

Can he lift the solid wood table?
He's not the Hulk!
His anger left the secretary, who came to report, looking helpless. "Boss, it's Ted Turner's order."

"hiss--"

"call--"

"hiss--"

"call--"

Barry Mayer inhales, exhales, inhales, exhales...

"pat-"

He finally couldn't hold back and kicked the chair hard.

At that moment, he really wanted to strangle Ted Turner.

But he can't.

Because Ted Turner is currently the largest individual shareholder in AOL Time Warner.

It's not something a wage earner like him can fight head-on.

Yes!
The Ross family is behind him!

But as long as Ted Turner doesn't do anything outrageous, they can't afford to fall out!

Yes, although Ted Turner has disgusted them now, his actions are actually not wrong, because CNN is just stating a fact. They are not spreading rumors or slandering others, and even if CNN doesn't report it, other media outlets will.

But in reality...

is also like this.

CNN's report on last week's box office results was just one way Ted Turner was trying to annoy the Ross family; his response was simply to the Ross family's decision earlier this year to block their chances of getting The Lord of the Rings for the Oscars.

Meanwhile, other media outlets, including NBC, CBS, FOX, and USA Today, also reported on the success of "007" and the inadequacy of "The Locked Room." When this public opinion emerged, the screening of "The Locked Room" in North America suffered a huge impact.

If one had to describe it, the current situation of "The Locked Room" is exactly the same as that of SW earlier this year.

The power of SW and HP is obvious to all, so how did you end up being defeated in that situation?

God cannot shed blood.

The public also wants to see just how strong the movie that beats you is.

This situation directly resulted in "Choose the Day" reaping the box office benefits of "The Locked Chamber"!

MGM is absolutely ecstatic!

Ruthless buying of press releases!

They say 007 took away HP!

Then, once "Choose the Day" achieved high box office numbers, a chain reaction ensued.

Since films released around the same time as "The Locked Room" can make just as much money, then—

Excuse me.

"The Secret Chamber," your screening schedule is going to be reduced.

And the number of screenings has decreased...

How can the box office possibly rise like this?

Amidst media coverage, MGM's jubilation, and Ted Turner's frantic efforts, even with Warner Bros.' attempts to salvage its film, "The Chamber" still fell back to second place on the daily box office charts in North America starting November 25th.

then……

The Locked Room has always been overshadowed by James Bond...

However, being outdone isn't the most disgusting thing for Warner Bros. right now. What disgusts them the most is that the daily box office difference between "Choose Another Day" and "The Chamber of Secrets" is only a few hundred thousand! No matter how much more, it won't exceed one million!

This situation of cutting flesh with a dull knife is truly...

"Ah ah ah ah ah--"

Barry Mayer couldn't take it anymore!
Meanwhile, the lack of follow-through for "The Room" has made everyone realize that, based on current trends, "The Room" seems to have only earned a maximum of 2.5 million in North America, while "The Philosopher's Stone" earned a whopping 3.1 million in North America!

Therefore, unless "The Chamber of Secrets" grosses $6000 million more overseas than "The Sorcerer's Stone," otherwise...

"The Secret Room" probably won't reach the level of "The Philosopher's Stone"!

Then, "The Sorcerer's Stone" grossed a whopping 6.57 million at the overseas box office.

On this basis, adding 6000 million would yield 7.17 million.

While some Hollywood films have achieved this feat, only one film has surpassed it to date.

That's Titanic.

So……

"The Chamber of Secrets" might not be able to beat "The Lord of the Rings" this year!
It looks like Warner Music is going to lose to New Line Cinema!!

It looks like the Ross family is about to get a real kick in the ass from Ted Turner!

“Ohhhhh——”

"It looks like Isabella is going to lose!"

Anne Hathaway, who had just finished filming "Enchantress" and was preparing for Christmas in California, jumped up excitedly!
-
(Some details of the Warner Bros. internal strife)
　Notes: ① Almost all institutions predicted a box office of 10 for *The Chamber of Secrets* back then. The fact that *The Chamber of Secrets* didn't break 10 was indeed due to *Choose Another Day*'s negative impact. ② Warner Bros. was already preparing to make *Catwoman* back in 1992, with Tim Burton as the director, but unfortunately Steve Roth passed away. ③ Halle Berry was incredibly arrogant in the early 2000s. Marvel Studios president Perelman terminated her contract because when he congratulated her on winning an Oscar, she directly threatened him, saying, "You have to raise my endorsement fees and my salary, otherwise I won't return to being a mutant." She threatened Perelman in public. ④ Halle Berry's demands for *Catwoman* really disgusted Warner Bros., and in the end, she received $12.5 million for *Catwoman*. The reason she could get so much was thanks to *Choose Another Day* absorbing the hype surrounding *The Chamber of Secrets*, which made Warner Bros. think she was really something special, but in reality, she wasn't. This is also why she couldn't get any big projects after filming "Catwoman." The flop of "Catwoman" led the Big Six to blacklist her. She wanted more than Julia Roberts, but she couldn't make it at the box office.

　　P.S.: Warner's internal strife is well-known, but I still want to add that in reality, Ted Turner and the Ross family fought even more fiercely than I've described, and it was truly a makeshift operation. For example, after the merger of AOL and Warner, the new CEO, Gerald Levin, was a member of the Ross family. Ted Turner didn't hold back when attacking him, directly yelling at him and telling him to get out at the board meeting. I've attached the picture above.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)